Press release -
Grow Forth and multiply
A marketing campaign which aims to increase the number of cruise ships visiting the River Forth has been given a £13,500 boost from the VisitScotland Growth Fund.
The grant from the national tourism organisation has been awarded to CruiseForth for its new ‘Project Inspire’ campaign to promote cruise passenger tourism opportunities in East Central Scotland, which also includes the River Tay.
The Growth Fund cash comprises half the cost of the £27,000 marketing push, which is being match-funded by Forth Ports Ltd, Fife Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Queensferry Ambition, Leith Chamber of Commerce, Dunfermline 1st and Falkirk Council.
The money will be spent on a variety of marketing activity, including website improvements, advertising, PR trips for journalists, exhibiting at various trade events and a direct mail campaign.
Established in 2011, CruiseForth is the only up-to-date source of passenger information in relation to cruise ships visiting the River Forth, which annually bring in around 90,000 passengers (plus crew).
The core objective of Project Inspire is to increase the number of enquiries by cruise ship itinerary planners and, in successive years, to increase the number and duration of cruise visits.
Among its goals, Project Inspire aims to:
- Increase visits to Forth by five ships (averaging 2000 passengers) by 2017 season
- Increase number of overnight cruise ship stays from 19 to 22
- Support the creation of ten new excursion itineraries across central Scotland
Manuela Calchini, VisitScotland’s Regional Partnerships Director, said:
“We are delighted to support CruiseForth’s new marketing campaign through the VisitScotland Growth Fund. I am sure Project Inspire will live up to its name, inspiring even more visitors to explore some of the fantastic sights and experiences that the Edinburgh, The Lothians, Fife and Falkirk have to offer.”
Stuart Wallace, Divisional Director for Forth Ports and Chairman of CruiseForth, said:
“We are thrilled that CruiseForth has received this Growth Fund money to further enhance the benefits of being part of a cruise on the River Forth and the River Tay. CruiseForth already provides an excellent service at each of the ports which welcomes around 80 cruise ships in the River Forth each year. With the increasing interest in cruise holidays, it’s important that we tell the market about the unique and beautiful attractions that we have to offer on Scotland’s east coast.”
For more information about CruiseForth, go to www.cruiseforth.com
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- growth fund
- corporate communications
- cruiseforth
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
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- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, the tourism economy supports 270,000 jobs in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the tourism economy contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Food and Drink 2015- 2015 is the Year of Food and Drink, a celebration of Scotland’s natural larder and the role that food and drink plays in shaping our economic success.
- Scotland generates over £2.5m per day through food and drink tourism.
- A series of themed months will create an appetite for key areas of Scotland’s food and drink industries – from seafood and whisky to berries and high-quality meat
- For more information, visit www.visitscotland.com/tastescotland
